- Already qualified, the Stade Toulousain receives Gloucester this Sunday to be able to play their quarter-final of the Champions Cup at home.
- As early as 1911, a match between the two teams took place during Mardi Gras.
- The English have kept an exquisite memory of their long journey. The arbitrator, a British pastor, probably much less
Before the Sunday poster at Ernest-Wallon, the EPCR, organizer of the Champions Cup, said in a press release that Stade Toulousain had already beaten Gloucester "during the only previous reception of the English, in November 2011". True for the European Cup, but false in absolute terms. A hundred years before this success Rouge et Noir (21-17), a gala meeting had in fact opposed the two clubs, in the ancient Ponts-Jumeaux stadium.
A game disputed on February 28, 1911, Mardi Gras and France-Wales day (0-15) of the V Nations Tournament in Paris. A “double” already, even if the Stadists had finished their official season since February 5 and the defeat against Tarbes (4-0) in the final of the Pyrenees championship, which then opened the doors of the French championship…
“At that time, there was a real tradition of touring Mardi Gras and Easter, notes historian-collector Frédéric Humbert… Many English players could afford to spend a week on vacation. Here's how international wing teammates and Gloucester captain Arthur Hudson found themselves invited by the Stadium. On one condition: send their best team to France, which had served as a base for Gloucestershire, winner of the championship of the English counties in 1910 (the championship of England will not appear until 1987).
Gloucester's great journey
A sport practiced by wealthy young people, rugby XV across the Channel wanted to be spotless amateurism, unlike rugby XIII, already professional and popular in the working-class north of the country. That said, whether rich or not, the journey between the south-west of England and the south-west of France at the time looked like a great adventure. Departing on Saturday 25 February in the early afternoon from Gloucester, the British delegation arrived Monday evening in Toulouse, after two nights in London then in Paris and train and boat trips. The return will last “only” 31 hours, from Wednesday to Thursday.
And the Tuesday match in all this, disputed without the second local line Pierre Mounicq, retained by the XV of France? Kick-off is given at 4.33 p.m. exactly, according to La Dépêche the next day. The party had started at the beginning of the afternoon with a match of a "mixed team" of the Stadium against the 18th artillery regiment, followed by a flight-exhibition of the aviator Roger Morin, who had already impressed his contemporaries the day before with his Pau-Toulouse journey.
February 27, 1911 | raid 🛩️ # Pau- # Toulouse by Roger Morin.
Of course, we are not yet crossing seas and oceans, but when we see the airplane we can get our sonhttps: //t.co/eiSU0a36J7#TopGun #DandyDesAirs #DesAirsdeDandy pic.twitter.com/vJQQpc8VNR
"The game, although disturbed on several occasions by incidents, was very beautiful, all of play open and conducted very quickly", writes the regional daily which was not yet called La Dépêche du Midi . What "incidents" are these? Let us say that the numerous Toulouse public, already chauvinistic, took in flu the referee, the English reverend Oswald Hayden, arrived in the luggage of Gloucester.
At the start of the second half, the pastor signals a pass-forward between Toulousains Pujolle and Mouline and therefore invalidates the latter's try. The public is racing, and "it seems for a moment that the game will be stopped" reports the newspaper. In the process, the referee whistles a new forward. The English however continue to play until registering an essay… validated by Mr. Hayden. Again, it fumbles under the berets in the stands, but the match is coming to an end. According to the Gloucester Rugby Heritage website, the referee still needs an escort of police officers and players to leave the field without damage…
An Englishman at the Stade Toulousain
The result: a success by Gloucester (18-13) on Toulouse driven by a hinge composed of the emblematic captain Alfred Mayssonié, known as "Maysso", and ... the English Reggie Minahan. The Northampton defector for this 1910-1911 season registered his team's third try, after those of Joseph Amilhat and Pierre Jauréguy. Place then at the banquet.
Mardi Gras 1911.
The English from Gloucester come to play in Toulouse.
The match was filmed (by whom ??) and the best moments played at the city's cinema the following week, with great publicity in the local press.
(PS: I want to find these coils!) Pic.twitter.com/V8WLLOLvdx
Some English players will remember this escapade as the best moment of their career. They will also have the opportunity to watch the match a few days later at the cinema, in full and in preview, at the Palace Theater in Gloucester. With enthusiasm, if we believe their comments which serve as advertising arguments worthy of a blockbuster, in the advertisement published by the newspaper The Citizen on March 11.
So, was there any progress on the Mouline test? Alas, the film of the match seems lost forever, just like the identity of the director. It is also impossible to get hold of a single photo of this prestigious meeting… As for the Toulouse team, it will quickly recover from this defeat and win the following year the first of its 20 Shields of Brennus, remaining unbeaten all season . History will retain its nickname "Red Virgin".
The Tour de France reaches Toulouse, tribute to Alfred Mayssonnié, strategist of the Stade Toulousain team known as the Red Virgin, invincible in 1912. Adjutant to the 259th infantry regiment, killed on September 6, 1914 during the 1st battle of the Marne @ 1J1Poilu @StadeToulousain pic.twitter.com/cDg8w7B0Eu
- Camille Morata (@MorataCamille) July 17, 2019This upward trajectory will be shattered by the First World War, during which 81 Stadists, including Mayssonié, Minahan, Mouline and Servat, who had played the famous Mardi Gras match 1911, will die. Among their opponents of the day, Berry, Barnes and Griffiths won't come back from the front either. The bodies of the three Gloucester players have never been found.
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